Péladeau swings ax at Sun Media

It didn’t take long for Pierre-Karl Péladeau to assert himself at Sun Media.

Six weeks after personally taking the helm of the newspaper and TV chain,the Quebecor president announced 600 people will be laid off, nearly all of them before Christmas.

The company said in a statement that the cuts represent 10 per cent of Sun Media’s workforce and will result in restructuring costs of $14 million.

Sun Media publishes 43 paid and free newspapers in Quebec, Ontario and Western Canada, as well as 200 community papers and specialty publications such as shopping guides.

Peladeau said in a statement that “the speed at which the current economic environment is deteriorating forces us to make difficult decisions at this time of the year.

"This decision in no way changes our commitment to our publications, our readers and our advertisers. We will continue to invest in

the business. We have a responsibility to offer Canadians the type of news coverage they are entitled to expect from the country’s largest newspaper publisher, which is to say high-quality journalism focused on local news and exclusive features that meets changing consumer needs and habits.”

Newspapers are being fundamentally affected by the availability of free media online and the drop in revenues from advertisers, he added.

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